Fun on the 4th

We started off the week saying goodbye to Ben. Grant had Ben spend his last couple of nights at our house. The boys thought it would be fun to start celebrating the 4th a few days early by playing with sparklers. They had a great time! After Ben left on Monday, Grant was pretty sad. Every night he goes to bed and asks when he gets to see Ben again.

The boys both were in different parades this week. Grant had the opportunity to ride in a firetruck with one of his classmates in the West Des Moines parade. He thought it was great. They all had a fun time sitting on the hoses and throwing a lot of candy!

Taylor was in the Waukee parade with his Cub Scout troop. They also had a good time throwing a lot of candy. It was a nice day for the kids and luckily it wasn't too hot.

The City of Waukee has some great activities in Centennial Park after the parade. There were a lot of inflatable toys for kids to play on. Taylor and his friend Jacob decided to do the Tug of War. The object was to pull against the other persons weight and try to make baskets. Taylor did great and ended up winning against his friend (who is two years older than him!). After the second basket he was pretty worn out and discovered that the best way to take a breather is to just lay down, thus alleviating any momentum the other player could gain. I think we need one of these in our backyard for the times that the boys are having difficulties getting along.

Here are a few other pictures of the kids at the parades. The last one is of some friends of ours who joined us at the parade.

These are some friends of ours who joined us at the parade. This is also McKay's favorite playmate, Kate. She is so excited to see Kate. She says her name anytime we drive by her house and when she sees her come into church.

I took the kids to the Farmer's Market downtown on Saturday. Kyle was working but decided to join us. The market is huge and there are usually around 10,000 people there. So, the kids had sno-kones and sticky buns for breakfast! I didn't get to take any pictures, but I will take them again sometime and get some. If you ever visit Des Moines, the Farmer's Market is a must.